Forwarded message >from JewishGen Discussion Group:

Subject: An Outstanding Salt Lake City Conference
From: <A HREF="mailto:MRNatchez@...">MRNatchez@...</A>
Date: 7/24/00 11:55 PM Central Daylight Time

Genealogists Meet in Salt Lake City to Explore Their Jewish Heritage

Over 620 genealogists >from around the globe gathered in Salt Lake City on
July 9-14, 2000 for the International Association of Jewish Genealogical
Societies' 20th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy.
Representatives >from over 50 Jewish genealogical societies attended.

The LDS Family History Library retains the largest amount of Jewish records
on microfilm in the world. On behalf of the Genealogical Society of Utah,
Richard E. Turley, Jr., Director of the Family History Department, and Nancy
Goodstein, a volunteer at the Family History Library, presented a gift of the
multi-volume "Jewish Records in the Family History Library" index and CD-ROM
to the Association. Additionally, participants had access to a special index
of microfilms of Jewish vital records at the Lithuanian archives, an exciting
new finding aid.

Outstanding programs featured notable speakers, including Alexander Abraham,
Director of Yad Vashem in Israel; Alexandre Beider, author and specialist in
the field of Ashkenazic names; Angelika Ellmann-Krueger, German research
specialist, Dr. Michael Hammer, a geneticist noted for his work on the
kohanim gene; Regina Kopilevich, a Lithuanian researcher; Marian Smith,
Historian for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service; and Vladislav
Soshnikov, Director of the Russian-American Genealogical Archival Service,
among others. Banquet speakers, Eileen Douglas and Ron Steinman, presented a
portion of their upcoming film, "My Grandfather's House," a documentary about
Ms. Douglas' research that guided her back to her grandfather's Eastern
European origins.

Researchers enjoyed special "Breakfast With Experts" sessions and small group
tutorials designed to facilitate a productive interchange of research tips on
a variety of topics. Twenty special interest groups, focused on the study of
specific family surnames or research of a certain geographical area, provided
networking sessions to exchange new information of interest to genealogists.
These included researchers interested in South Africa, Sephardic genealogy,
Latvia, Rzeszow, Grodno, Polonnye Uezd, Nesivizh, Denmark, South Africa,
Bohemia, Lodz, Belarus, Galicia, Germany, Romania, Litvak research, Hungary,
Suchostav Region, Kolbuszowa Region and the Mirvis family surname.

"The astute planning, great programming, and excellent managing of the IAJGS
20th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy really paid dividends,"
stated Howard Margol of Atlanta, Georgia, president of IAJGS. "Without a
doubt, the conference was the friendliest on record. Sufficient time was
allowed to enable the attendees to do lots of networking, renew old
acquaintances, and make new contacts and friends. All in all, every aspect of
the conference was simply outstanding."

The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies' 21st
International Conference on Jewish Genealogy will be hosted by the Jewish
Genealogical Society of Great Britain, on July 8-13, 2001 in London, England.
In 2002, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan will host the
Conference in Dearborn, Michigan. In 2003, the Jewish Genealogical Society of
Greater Washington will host the Conference in Washington, D.C.

For information on joining or creating a Jewish genealogical society,
please visit our web site at <A HREF="http://www.iajgs.org">http://www.iajg
s.org</A>

Marilyn R. Natchez
IAJGS Treasurer
MRNatchez@...
<A HREF="mailto:MRNatchez@...">mailto:MRNatchez@...</A>